As New York remains one of the top participants in the bike-share craze currently sweeping the nation with its Citi Bike program, private businesses are joining in on the trend with the latest addition being Gramercy Park Hotel’s new bike share program offering guests an environmentally friendly way to explore the downtown neighborhood.
NYC’s Citi Bike program, launched last month, is the largest bike-sharing program in the nation, adding 6,000 blue bikes at 330 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. With the success of the program, offering unlimited rides for just $10 per day, other businesses are looking to put their own spin on the cycling trend.
And Gramercy Park Hotel’s new program definitely comes with a twist.
The bikes given to guests are not just any bikes; they are custom-made, chic cycling machines made exclusively for the hotel by Brazilian advertising executive Lorenzo Martone. The design-driven bikes are all white with a red chain, a signature of all bikes in Martone’s collection, with a special “GPH” license plate to distinguish them from the rest.
Martone’s bike company, Martone Cycling Co., also sells and delivers its bikes, coming in at about $900, which are available in men’s and women’s frames with five different colors: black, white, red, gold and silver and can be ordered at martonecycling.com. All bikes are adorned with Martone’s red chain and a basket built into the handlebars for storage.
These artsy bikes are fitting for the boutique hotel and the surrounding Gramercy Park area, a neighborhood with a long and affluent history.
The interior of Gramercy Park features the 1916 statue of Edwin Booth, a notable resident of the neighborhood
As the only private park in New York City, Gramercy Park allows hotel guests and local residents to explore the greenery and architecture of the area, created by American lawyer and politician Samuel Ruggles in the 1830s.
Cyclists can see the still-standing luxury townhouses once owned by notable families like the Rockefellers and the Roosevelt’s, and the residencies of current celebrities like Uma Thurman and Jimmy Fallon.
Aside from the bikes providing a trendy way to explore New York City, they also offer an eco-friendly option for hotel guests interested in environmentally or health conscious initiatives.
Other hotels in the New York area have adopted bike-sharing programs as well to provide transportation options that are easier on the environment.
LEED-certified hotel The Element Times Square, which uses environmental practices such as low-flow fixtures and compact fluorescent bulbs to save energy, runs a complimentary bike-sharing program that allows riders to bicycle along the Hudson River path.
However, it’s not only hotels getting in on the action. Related Companies, a real estate firm offering luxury apartment rentals in New York, partnered with bike-share business Zagster last month to offer a bike-sharing program to renters at 10 of its Manhattan rental properties.
With all these new bike-share programs popping up in the area, New Yorkers now have a wide array of options to explore the city that’s both environmentally friendly and fun.
– Samantha Goldberg